The final chapter of the 2016 season is upon us, with Nebraska and New York crowning their winners this weekend. New Mexico following the weekend of the 23rd-24th (they've had a number of date changes), and Kentucky is as late as the 30th-31st - it's been particularly hard to find information from them this year and I gather the dates have changed a few times.

Competing in Nebraska this year are three former Teens, hoping to add to this record-breaking year (see more info on that here). The three are 2011 Teen Madison Novak, 2RU last year; 2009 Teen Sarah Hollins, 3RU last year and 2RU in 2014, and first-time Miss contestant Sarah Summers who was Miss NE Teen USA 2012. Sarah is only the fourth 2012 Teen to compete this year and fifth ever! (but we may be seeing another in NY this weekend too).

2015 fourth runner-up Taida Pajazetovic is also back. Jessica White is competing for the first time since she placed fourth runner-up at Miss NE Teen USA 2007!

The only returning Teen contestants are 2015 third runner-up Megan Karas and semi-finalists Lacey White and Ariel Zach.

Kudos to Nebraska for keeping their numbers steady, with 19 Miss contestants and 25 Teens - their highest Teen group since 2007. Special mention to my favourite local title for 2016, "Miss Middle of Nowhere Teen"! Contestant photos can be viewed here.

Taylor Gortonof Glenpool is the new Miss Oklahoma USA 2016 and Hellen Smith of Oklahoma City is Miss OK Teen USA! Taylor was second runner-up to Miss USAOlivia Jordan last year, and was crowned by Olivia's 1RU and successor as Miss OK USA Alex Miller. Hellen was last year's first runner-up, making it two years in a row that the 1RU has been crowned.

In addition to the crown, Taylor also won the Photogenic award, the Mentor award, and the Interview and Swimsuit category awards! Hellen was the Gown category winner and also won Photogenic.

Taylor is the first former Teen to win in Oklahoma since Miss OK USA 2010 Morgan Woolard, who placed 1RU at Miss USA 2010. Like Taylor, Morgan was also a semi-finalist in the Teen pageant. Good omen? Taylor's win brings to 14 the number of former Teen titleholders competing at Miss USA this year.

First runner-up in the Miss division went to another runner-up from last year, Albreuna Gonzaque. Past Teen finalist and 2015 Miss semi-finalist Madeline Cole placed third runner-up, while newcomers Catelin Morris and Alex Smith placed second and fourth runner-up respectively. Catelin also won the Gown category.

​In the Teen competition, the only returning contestant other than Hellen was 4RU and Congeniality winner Kailey Salzillo. First runner-up and Swimsuit went to Arianna Standfill, second runner-up was Whitney Webb and third runner-up and the Interview award went to Macy Meehan.

Miss District of Columbia USA & Teen USA 2016 will be crowned in a few hours (starting 7pm EST)! Apologies for this being up so late, I thought that finals were tomorrow, oops. Contestant numbers are significantly lower than previous years, with only sixteen Miss contestants and four Teens. The Teen division is the lowest of any group of contestants this year.

Despite the smaller numbers, the Miss division is super strong this year. First runner-up Kara McCullough is back, as is third runner-up & former Miss DC Teen USA 2012 Sierra Hadley - just the third 2012 Teen to compete thus far this year. Also competing is two-time DC Teen runner-up Maura Deegan, competing in Miss for the first time. As is common with DC, the contestant list contains many who have competed in other states, particularly Virginia & Maryland. 2014 Virginia runner-up Kiara Williams is competing in DC for the first time, as is past SC Teen runner-up & Miss semi-finalist Courtney Ballenger.

Super unfortunate timing this weekend as Miss Oklahoma USA starts an hour after their first Miss USA Olivia Jordan starts competing for Miss Universe. The beautiful Alex Miller, Olivia's first runner-up and successor, and Teen titleholder Cherokee Pearce will do a great job of holding down the fort in OK but what a shame they and their directors weren't able to be in Vegas to support their sister queen - and a shame that Olivia wasn't able to return to her state pageant as the reigning Miss USA. Miss contestant photos are here and Teen here. Miss numbers are down as with so many other states but Teen numbers are at their second highest in the last decade.

Returning this year are 2015 second runner-up, former Miss Oklahoma Teen USA 2008 Taylor Gorton who made the semi-finals at Miss Teen USA; and third runner-up Albreuna Gonzaque. 2011 Teen 3RU Madeline Cole, a semi-finalist last year, is also competing again, as are other 2015 semi-finalists Alex Smith and Lauren Kindle. Victoria Grant, first runner-up at Miss New Hampshire Teen USA 2013, is competing in Oklahoma for the first time.

​In Teen, the only finalist competing again is first runner-up Hellen Smith, with semi-finalists Lauren Lugafet and Kailey Salzillo also returning.

A big congratulations goes to Deshauna Barber, Miss District of Columbia USA 2016 and Dylan Murphy, Miss DC Teen USA 2016 who were crowned on Saturday night! Deshauna was a semi-finalist last year and in Virginia in 2010, while Dylan was competing for the first time.

First runner-up in Miss - for the second year in a row - was Kara McCullough, while Sierra Hadley also repeated her 3RU placement from last year. Second runner-up went to Colby Muhammad and Alexis Becton placed fourth runner-up. Both were non-finalists in 2013, in DC and Maryland respectively. Despite only having sixteen contestants a top ten was called, which included past South Carolina Teen finalist Courtney Ballenger, and Kiara Imani Williams, fourth runner-up in Virginia in 2014.

In the Teen pageant, the contestants were ranked from first to third runner-up: Alana Robinson placed 1RU, Ramella Suber was 2RU and 3RU was Hadiyyah Abdul-Jalaal.

Congratulations to Ariane Audett Miss Alaska USA 2016 andNneamaka Isolokwu, Miss Alaska Teen USA 2016! Both were competing for the first time. This will be a short one (it's Alaska!) but major kudos to photographer Matthew Crockett who has totally transformed our awareness of the Alaska pageant - there are many years, even early 2010s, where I have but one solitary pageant photo of the Alaska titleholders, but since Matthew become photographer in 2014 we've seen many wonderful pics the night of the pageant. Check his page out here.

There were nine Miss contestants and five Teens in the competition this year (a correction on my earlier comment that there appeared to be six Teens with one left out - turns out one of the Miss contestants ended up on the Teen side of the photo!) First runner-up in the Miss division was Ardrianna Everett, fourth runner-up in 2013, who I don't think has competed since then. Second runner-up was Brandy Kellner, third runner-up last year and fourth runner-up in 2014. The other top five finalists were JoEllen Walters, last year's 1RU and Emma Halsey, also a finalist in 2013.

In Teen, 2015 second runner-up Tana Bartels improved one spot to first runner-up and newcomer Vanessa Stadler was second runner-up. Rylee Lewis and Sabrina Simons completed the top five.

Cassandra Angst was Elena's first runner-up, improving from her fourth runner-up placements in both 2014 and 2015. 2015 semi-finalists Krystal Gregorio and Antonia Gore placed second and third runner-up respectively. Fourth runner-up went to newcomer Jodelis Diaz.

In the Teen division, the entire top three were all runners-up last year. First runner-up - and winner of both the Congeniality and Photogenic awards - was Madison Mantione, who like Cassandra was 4RU last year. Second runner-up went to 2015 1RU Alana Andersen. Third runner-up was newcomer Brooke Calle and fourth runner-up was Robin Stoner, a semi-finalist last year.​As with Utah earlier in the weekend, due to the low contestant numbers, all the Teen contestants were called as semi-finalists (which is interesting as this didn't happen in other Pageant Associates states with similar numbers this year).

Five-time competitor Nadia Mejiais Miss California USA 2016 and four-time contestant Athenna Crosby is Miss California Teen USA 2016! A double "Cinderella story" outcome in CA on Sunday and a show i've always enjoyed watching by webcast - thank goodness for so many of those this year :)

Nadia started competing in the Teen pageant in 2012 where she placed top 20, followed by fourth runner-up in 2013 and top 20 again in 2014. Last year was her first Miss event, where again she made the top 20. She and Athenna competed together in the 2013 and 2014 Teen pageants, with Athenna finishing top 20 in 2013 and top 10 in 2014 (also in the 2014 Teen pageant was outgoing Miss CA Teen USA and Miss Teen USA 1RU Melanie Mitchell, and Miss Teen USA 2014 3RU Bianca Vierra​). Athenna was third runner-up to Melanie last year.

Both Nadia & Athenna worked with Kristen Bradford of Crown Diva Boutique who is an absolute pageant magician - at various times she was also the local director for current Miss USA Olivia Jordan, Miss CA USA 2015 Natasha Martinez, Miss NV USA 2015 Brittany McGowan, Miss FL USA 2016 Brie Gabrielle and Miss CA USA 2014 Cassandra Kunze. Olivia, and Brittany were her Beverly Hills & Malibu titleholders at the same time Nadia was Miss Beverley Hills Teen USA.

Photos: Glenn Francis/Pacific Pro Digital

In the Miss division, first runner-up went to first-time contestant and Photogenic winner Catherine Watters - the Photogenic winners placed 1RU in both categories! Second runner-up was Lauren Smolka, who made the top five for the first time after two years as a top 20 semi-finalist. Also making the top five for the first time after multiple years as a semi-finalist was former Ohio contestant Alexia Castillo, who placed third runner-up. Newcomer Carolina Urrea was fourth runner-up.

Unlike recent years there wasn't a cut from top 20 to top 10 this year, and to be honest I think the competition suffered a bit as a result as the semi-finalist competition tended to drag a little, particularly in evening gown with its slower pace. Also, as someone pointed out, it must be tough not knowing if you finished 6th or 20th! Miss semi-finalists included Miss US International 2014 Samantha Brooks, 2014 fourth runner-up Lauren York, past semi-finalists Carly Diamond Stone, Brooklyn Bizzle and Taelyr Robinson and a whole host of non-finalists who made the step up this year.

Spare a thought for Teen first runner-up Gigi Gauthier who finished 1RU for the third year in a row. In fact, this wasn't a great night for the two returning 2-times 1RUs in Teen, as Utah contestant Dasha Semina placed fourth runner-up (question, after two years as a first runner-up what do you think would be more painful, finishing as 1RU again or finishing in a lower spot? leave a comment!). The other three runners-up were all past semi-finalists: second runner-up Jessica Duhay and fourth runner-up Jocelyn McCoy both made top 20 last year, while third runner-up Kaylee Fuller was top 20 in 2013 and top 10 in 2012, but had not competed the past two years. Six more of last year's semi-finalists made the top 20 again this year.

Miss Pennsylvania USA & Teen USA 2016 will be crowned on Sunday. Miss contestants are posted here and Teen here. There are forty Miss contestants this year, down by 20, and there has been an even more drastic drop in the Teen division. In 2007 there were 189 Teen contestants in Pennsylvania (they used to hold this pageant over two separate weekends), 90ish in 2008, an average of 40-60 from 2009 to last year... and only 11 this year.

Returning in the Miss division is former Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA 2010 and Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2007 Elena LaQuatra, who was first runner-up this year. It has been thirteen years since a former Teen won in Pennsylvania - and it has only happened twice. Second runner-up Andrea Shen and fourth runner-up Cassandra Angst are also back - both also received the same placements in 2014!

Returning semi-finalists are Julia Pauline (second runner-up to Elena at Miss PA Teen USA 2010), Nicolette Bendick, Antonia Gore, Krystal Gregorio and Natalie Romano, as well as Monet Tiberii and Justina Torres who were semi-finalists in the 2014 and 2013 Teen pageants respectively.

In Teen, 2015 first runner-up Alana Andersen, second runner-up Sydney Dolanch and third runner-up Madonna Mantione are all competing again this year, as are semi-finalists Madison Brown and Robin Stoner.

Prelims are over and Miss Utah USA & Teen USA 2016 will be crowned Saturday night! Here is a belated look at who will be vying to succeed Nicol Powell and Brooke Skabelund as Utah's royalty. Contestant numbers are down in each division, with only 19 Miss contestants and 12 Teens. Finals can be viewed at www.pageantvision.com.

Teale Murdock and Dasha Semina, first runner-up in the Miss & Teen division respectively in both 2014 and 2015 will both be back again this year. Teale will be competing for the ninth time and would have aged out at the end of this year under the old rules - fortunately she will now have one more year if she doesn't take the title tonight. From when she first competed in Utah in 2009 she has only missed the top five once, in 2013. She was also a non-finalist at Miss TX Teen USA 2008.

All the runners-up from 2015 are back in the Miss division: in addition to Teale they are second runner-up Narine Ishhanov, semi-finalist in 2014 & non-finalist in 2013; third runner-up Andrea Jackson, also a semi-finalist in 2014 and 2013; and fourth runner-up Alecsy Christensen. From Virginia, two-time Teen runner-up Riley Copans is competing in her first Miss pageant.

Baylee Jensen, daughter of Miss USA 1989 Gretchen Polhemus Jensen is competing for the first time - wearing a modified version of her mum's prelim gown!

In Teen, Dasha is the only returning runner-up from last year, but Miss Idaho Teen USA 2014 second runner-up Kelsy Patrick is competing in Utah this year.